The Nicene Creed
The faith of the church, hammered out in 325 AD and prayed every Sunday since.
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
About this prayer
The Nicene Creed was the church's answer to a fierce theological argument in the 4th century about who exactly Jesus is. Bishops gathered at Nicaea in 325 AD and produced this statement, which has been the common confession of the world's Christians — Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant — for seventeen centuries.
When to pray it
On Sundays. When you need to be reminded that what you believe is older and bigger than this moment.